Last Friday we had the opportunity to present our latest parent info session on the topic of language acquisition. We would like to thank all the families who were able to attend and we hope this presentation helped you to understand how we acquire a foreign language. For individuals who were unable to attend, we have included a link to the presentation slides. Feel free to use the links, books and resources you will find at the end of the presentation as a reference. Additionally, we have also embedded a video in this post that was created by a fellow international school. The video highlights the importance of supporting the continued development of the “mother tongue” for students who attend international schools where the primary language of instruction is not their first language.

As always, our goal at BFIS is to honor the unique qualities of every child and implement research-based instructional strategies to maximize every student’s potential. We hope you will find this information helpful and we look forward to continuing to support your children in their language journey!

For the past few weeks, 3rd grade students of Spanish Catalan studies, have been learning about the life and art of Federico García Lorca.

They have learned about the characteristics of the city he was born in (Granada, Spain), the first poems and theater plays he wrote, his trips around the world that helped him when writing some of his master pieces, his relationship with some other artists such as Salvador Dalí that influenced him not only personally but also in a professional way, etc.

Last Wednesday we had the opportunity to visit one of the best kept secrets of Gaudí’s creations: Colonia Güell. Although this place is less well-known than others by Gaudí, this architecture ensemble has great cultural and historical value for Catalonia. Students learned how Eusebi Güell, Gaudí’s sponsor, designed and understood a city for the workers around a factory.

We first visited the crypt, which was intended to be a church. Students were told about how Gaudí took his inspiration from nature, modelling his church with no straight lines and elements depicting trees, flowers… We also admired the beautiful stained glass windows and how they project a game of lights.

Afterwards, students designed a mosaic getting inspiration by Gaudí’s trencadís technique. They were amazing artists!

We finished our day by visiting the town, discovering the different houses and important buildings in the Colonia: the old school, the doctor’s house, the old civic center…

After having met some important architects, we have just started working on new celebrities. Now it’s time for artists that had an important impact in the Spanish culture. Our firsts guests were Diego Velázquez and Francisco de Goya. Once we learned about their most important paintings, we travelled through history by discovering the Museo del Prado, to get to know some important people and details that appear in those paintings. To wrap up with these artists, we coloured our own versions of Las Meninas and we did different activities related Goya. Please, take a look at these colorful versions!

Continuing with celebrities, we stop by Pablo Picasso, one of our most international artists. Picasso admired Velázquez, and he painted many original versions of this painting that we have mentioned in our classes. One of the most important paintings that these artist painted was “Guernica” and we have worked on some of the elements that we can see on it. Our final activity was to make a puzzle of this painting… it was not easy but finally we got it!